Repast
by Sandshrew777
Summary: We are what we eat. A character sketch of the more famous students in the series as they sit down to lunch in the Great Hall one afternoon.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for own insights.**

**Author's Note: This is a very old piece of mine I found on the computer, so I thought I would upload it. Please enjoy, although I know this idea has been rehashed many times in the literary world. **

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It's time for lunch, and the students of Hogwarts rejoice. It's a time when they are free to do what they want. A time where they can feed their faces and nourish their minds with the latest gossip. They can talk to old friends and new friends; they can read a book or look at forgotten mail; they can whine about Double Potions or chatter excitedly about the Hogsmeade weekend coming up.

Today, the House Elves have made a rather simple lunch for the inhabitants of the Great Hall. Everybody knows what they've made today, because today is a Thursday, and Thursday always means sandwiches.

The Gryffindor table leaps upon the food instantly, as is their wont. The Ravenclaws politely reach for this and that. The Hufflepuffs each grab something and pass it to the person on the right. The Slytherins snatch up whatever they can, when they can, and from whomever they can.

A satisfied Harry Potter has finished creating his sandwich already. He is a simple person, and his choice of food today represents that. He eats what he always eats, and he's happy with it. Harry takes a piece of lettuce and a piece of cheese on just one slice of bread, which he folds in half. This is his sandwich, a sandwich he eats because he found out early in life that resources in this world are quite limited indeed, and you must take what you can get your hands on.

Next to him, Ron Weasley is piling up his plate with four sandwiches, each of them different. Ron believes in variety, so each of his sandwiches has a different meat. One has salad dressing; one has italian dressing; one has mustard; and one has no spread on it. One is comprised of white bread; one of wheat; one of rye; and one of sourdough bread. Just one single thing stays the same for Ron, and that is the lettuce. Each sandwich has one piece of lettuce in it. No matter how Ron changes in life, he always will have one thing that will be stable, one thing that he can depend on forever. He likes to experiment, but he always remembers who he is and what his strengths are.

Across from Harry sits Hermione Granger, who has primly put her sandwich together. She is methodical when she sits down to eat on Thursday afternoon. You can set your watch by her. She first starts by taking one piece of wheat bread and putting it on her plate. She puts the same amount of honey mustard on it every time, and she follows that with a piece of turkey, always in the same spot. She follows with a slice of tomato, which she centers on her turkey, and then finished by putting the top piece of bread on her creation. She cuts in half perfectly every time, and pours her pumpkin juice to the brim, never going over and never spilling it when she lifts it to her lips. Hermione is a creature of habit, and she needs to take solace in a routine. Her routines always work, because her plans are always thought through completely. Hermione's only problem is that she cannot possibly remember everything, and if one tiny thing goes wrong, if just one miscalculation is made, her world comes crashing down around her.

To her right is Ginny Weasley, and judging by her sandwich you would think her the very antithesis of the girl to her left. Ginny has white bread with a generous helping of mayonnaise and some very spicy mustard to go with it. She follows with onions and a piece of lettuce. Ginny has no meat on her sandwich. She, like Harry, has had to deal with everybody else's leftovers. Only the twins like onions, and mustard is always plentiful in her home. Lettuce and mayonnaise are her luxuries, and she partakes in them here at Hogwarts whenever she can. Ginny's sandwich is spicy, like her personality, but it is haphazardly put together. She slaps things on in no particular order and she doesn't bother to cut it. Ginny knows what she wants and she will do what she can to get it --- or at least something that is close enough.

Next to Ginny is the former oaf, Neville Longbottom. He's always left out because his wand hand is his left, a rarity in the Wizarding World as well as the Muggle World. Neville takes surprisingly little on his sandwich, and is never picky about what he has. If there is turkey nearby, he'll have a turkey sandwich. If it's ham instead, then it's ham for Neville today. Neville always takes what is given to him with little complaint. That is how he was raised, and he will never grow out of it. He then takes a smattering of vegetables, whatever ones that are in sight. He, like Ginny, does not cut his sandwich. Neville follows his heart, and his heart is whole, like his sandwich.

His soon-to-be girlfriend at the Ravenclaw table, Luna Lovegood, is enjoying her sandwich as well. Luna is eating peanut butter and tuna fish, an odd mix for anybody but this quirky girl. She has white bread on the bottom and wheat on the top. She has cut it in half twice, creating four mini-sandwiches for herself. Luna is different and she will always be different. Like Ron, she enjoys experimenting with new things. Luna is not afraid to believe and never lets go of a dream. She might be ridiculed by the world, but in her own eyes, she is all she wants to be.

Draco Malfoy has assembled his sandwich and is eating very slowly, enjoying what he has managed to obtain by any means possible. In Slytherin, their guiding principles are always important, even at the lunch table. He has stolen Crabbe's bread while he was reaching for the ham. He quickly ripped off a piece of lettuce from the head that happened to roll his way and shoved it between the pieces of his bread, not letting go of his precious acquisition. Draco continues to steal, cheat, and beat his way to get what he wants on his sandwich. In the end, he has the best of everything around him, and he is content. When something new comes into his area, however, Draco is the first to notice it, and always manages to get ahold of it somehow. He has been given everything he ever wanted for all of his childhood, and has learned to take whatever he wants in adolescence. As a Malfoy, he flaunts what he has, even if it is as insignificant as a sandwich.

Once lunch is over, the students go their separate ways, taking innumerable routes to get to their destinations. They will go on for seven days, new events coming about here and there in their lives.

But on Thursday, a little after noon, you will find the students of Hogwarts having sandwiches in the Great Hall.


End file.
